As part of our mission to address the global health workforce crisis, HVO has sponsored the publication of the Special Research Topic, International Partnerships for Strengthening Health Care Capacity: Models of Collaborative Education in Frontiers in Public Health – an open-access journal, providing the means and platform for organizations and individuals across the globe to publish invaluable and desperately needed research. There are 33 articles in total, representing a wide breadth of health specialties and drawing on the diversity and expertise of 163 authors, representing 28 countries and 96 different organizations/institutions.

This eBook is an initial step to collate peer-reviewed manuscripts documenting widely applicable models of partnerships and programs in education aimed at increasing health worker capacity. HVO encourages you to join us as we leverage this research to advance the global dialogue around strengthening health workforce capacity, promoting sustainable global partnerships, and supporting future research.

All of us have a role to play, whether by educating others and ourselves about the vast, unmet health care needs of vulnerable populations; by volunteering our time and expertise as health professionals; or, by supporting organizations dedicated to building health workforce capacity. Together, we can facilitate professional relationships and reinforce partnerships, harnessing a vital human resource – health care workers – to build the capacity of health systems and improve patient care.

HVO thanks the four editors – Jeanne Leffers, PhD, RN, FAAN (Lead Editor); Jennifer Audette, PhD, PT; Kevin S. Hardwick, DDS, MPH; and William Van Cleve, MD, MPH. Without their vision, guidance and significant amount of donated time, this Research Topic would not have been possible.

We also extend our gratitude to the 163 authors for their submissions. By contributing peer-reviewed research, they contributed to building our collective knowledge in the field of global health, strengthening our understanding and informing future capacity building efforts.
Finally, HVO thanks Frontiers for support and collaboration on this exciting initiative. Their commitment to peer-reviewed, open-access publication is critical to improving access, participation and utilization of academic research by health care providers in low-resource countries.